A warm story set on a cold planet
By Paul Hunter
Aphelion on PS5 is a focused sci-fi adventure from DON’T NOD, developed and published by the studio that gave us Life is Strange, Remember Me, Vampyr, and Lost Records: Bloom and Rage. Much like their previous games, Aphelion puts character drama right at the centre of the experience.
It is a cinematic third-person action-adventure set on Persephone, a newly discovered frozen ninth planet that may hold the key to humanity’s future. I really enjoyed how much it leans to its survival mechanics with climbing, stealth, oxygen management, and exploration tools, and the dual-protagonist structure has a strong emotional pull.
So, is Aphelion a space mission worth launching into? Let’s find out!
Ariane and Thomas are not strangers tossed together for the space job. They are former partners with a complicated past, and that tension follows them into their mission to find Persephone's "source". It's an interesting choice because it adds a huge personal stake before the planet even starts to reveal its dangers.
Following Hope-01's crash, Ariane and Thomas are separated across Persephone, with limited supplies and no simple way back together. The story shifts from planned survey to survival and hopefully, reunion.
Ariane’s side of the story focuses on climbing and stealthily avoiding hostiles while trying to reach Thomas. Meanwhile, Thomas's side is built around managing his injury, and piecing together the planet’s hidden history.
The best part is how Aphelion balances the massive human stakes tied to one relationship. Humanity needs Persephone, yes, but I cared more about Ariane and Thomas' survival as they were fighting regret and fear, while trying to cling on some semblance of hope.
Persephone’s wider mystery gives the story its sci-fi backbone. The planet exhibits strange magnetic behaviour, contains strange glyphs, is rapidly heating up for unknown reasons, and has structures that hint at possible life before Hope-01's arrival. All these turn the planet into a question that keeps getting bigger.
The Nemesis is the main stealth threat, and it's like a floating mass of black strands with an ominous centre eye that hunts by sound instead of light. Avoiding is relatively straightforward, move quietly and avoid loud mistakes, and use your EM scanner to create distractions.
Speaking of your scanner, it's a visor tool that also detects electromagnetic fields and lets you shift energy to open paths or activate objects in the environment. You also have a Pathfinder tool, that helps point you toward the next objective.
Thomas’s gameplay is slower, focused on investigation, environmental analysis, oxygen management, and finding logs. His sections give you time to process the story and understand Persephone's history from another angle. A few stealth moments and ledge interactions can be a bit finicky, but the overall gameplay mix fits the adventure nicely.
The outdoor areas focus on scale, while the indoor routes focus on mystery. I enjoyed how the game moves between wide white stretches, tight underground passages, and human-made facilities that suggest other people already learned hard lessons here. The world has a good amount of variety to keep the journey visually fresh.
The character models and motion capture work for Ariane and Thomas are both top-notch, with their exhaustion, anger, surprise and fear all coming through in small facial movements.
The voice work is also excellent. Vanessa Dolmen gives Ariane purpose and vulnerability, while Eric Geynes makes Thomas sound injured and determined. The soundtrack fits both the lonely exploration and the bigger story moments. Audio effects like snow, wind, breathing, cracking ice, and the Nemesis all rachet up the survival tone. DualSense haptics add pressure during stealth, and the 30fps presentation suits the slower cinematic pace. I noticed a few technical quirks, mostly small visual hiccups, but the overall package worked extremely well for me.
Final Score: 7.5/10 - Good
Developer: DON'T NOD
Publisher: DON'T NOD
Genre: Action Adventure
Modes: Single-player
By Paul Hunter
Aphelion on PS5 is a focused sci-fi adventure from DON’T NOD, developed and published by the studio that gave us Life is Strange, Remember Me, Vampyr, and Lost Records: Bloom and Rage. Much like their previous games, Aphelion puts character drama right at the centre of the experience.
It is a cinematic third-person action-adventure set on Persephone, a newly discovered frozen ninth planet that may hold the key to humanity’s future. I really enjoyed how much it leans to its survival mechanics with climbing, stealth, oxygen management, and exploration tools, and the dual-protagonist structure has a strong emotional pull.
So, is Aphelion a space mission worth launching into? Let’s find out!
Story and Narrative
By 2060, Earth is close to uninhabitable, and the European Space Agency responds to that crisis by launching the Hope-01 mission. Crewmates Ariane Montclair and Thomas Cross are onboard the spaceship, which crash lands on Persephone, a frozen ninth planet that might offer humanity a future.Ariane and Thomas are not strangers tossed together for the space job. They are former partners with a complicated past, and that tension follows them into their mission to find Persephone's "source". It's an interesting choice because it adds a huge personal stake before the planet even starts to reveal its dangers.
Following Hope-01's crash, Ariane and Thomas are separated across Persephone, with limited supplies and no simple way back together. The story shifts from planned survey to survival and hopefully, reunion.
Ariane’s side of the story focuses on climbing and stealthily avoiding hostiles while trying to reach Thomas. Meanwhile, Thomas's side is built around managing his injury, and piecing together the planet’s hidden history.
The best part is how Aphelion balances the massive human stakes tied to one relationship. Humanity needs Persephone, yes, but I cared more about Ariane and Thomas' survival as they were fighting regret and fear, while trying to cling on some semblance of hope.
Persephone’s wider mystery gives the story its sci-fi backbone. The planet exhibits strange magnetic behaviour, contains strange glyphs, is rapidly heating up for unknown reasons, and has structures that hint at possible life before Hope-01's arrival. All these turn the planet into a question that keeps getting bigger.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Aphelion’s gameplay is focused on survival on Persephone, including navigating the harsh terrain and avoiding the Nemesis threat. Ariane’s chapters are the most active as she must handle climbing, handholds, jumps, ledge grabs, sliding, and balance checks. She also has a grappling hook that connects to marked points and lets Ariane swing, wall run, or move vertically. I loved those moments as they reminded me of grappling in the Uncharted series, includes hand grips that crumble and fall seconds after hanging from them.The Nemesis is the main stealth threat, and it's like a floating mass of black strands with an ominous centre eye that hunts by sound instead of light. Avoiding is relatively straightforward, move quietly and avoid loud mistakes, and use your EM scanner to create distractions.
Speaking of your scanner, it's a visor tool that also detects electromagnetic fields and lets you shift energy to open paths or activate objects in the environment. You also have a Pathfinder tool, that helps point you toward the next objective.
Thomas’s gameplay is slower, focused on investigation, environmental analysis, oxygen management, and finding logs. His sections give you time to process the story and understand Persephone's history from another angle. A few stealth moments and ledge interactions can be a bit finicky, but the overall gameplay mix fits the adventure nicely.
Presentation and Audio
Aphelion’s PS5 presentation is one of its biggest strengths. Persephone has a crisp look from the start, with frozen routes, cracked rock, deep caverns, damaged equipment, and human-made spaces crumbling against the planet’s cold. It really sells the idea of trained astronauts entering a harsh new place they're trying to understand and control.The outdoor areas focus on scale, while the indoor routes focus on mystery. I enjoyed how the game moves between wide white stretches, tight underground passages, and human-made facilities that suggest other people already learned hard lessons here. The world has a good amount of variety to keep the journey visually fresh.
The character models and motion capture work for Ariane and Thomas are both top-notch, with their exhaustion, anger, surprise and fear all coming through in small facial movements.
The voice work is also excellent. Vanessa Dolmen gives Ariane purpose and vulnerability, while Eric Geynes makes Thomas sound injured and determined. The soundtrack fits both the lonely exploration and the bigger story moments. Audio effects like snow, wind, breathing, cracking ice, and the Nemesis all rachet up the survival tone. DualSense haptics add pressure during stealth, and the 30fps presentation suits the slower cinematic pace. I noticed a few technical quirks, mostly small visual hiccups, but the overall package worked extremely well for me.
The Verdict
Aphelion is a great sci-fi adventure that delivers on all fronts. The story, atmosphere, traversal, stealth, and visuals are all great. Ariane and Thomas give the mission a strong emotional centre, while Persephone gives the journey scale, danger, and mystery. I loved the focused chapter structure, and the PS5 presentation, especially the voice work and audio effects, helped draw me in. A few small rough edges appear along the way, yet Aphelion still left me with a strong impression.Final Score: 7.5/10 - Good
Aphelion details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PCDeveloper: DON'T NOD
Publisher: DON'T NOD
Genre: Action Adventure
Modes: Single-player